By Message Staff MONROE – Rolling Hills Ministries has opened its new thrift store in Monroe, setting the stage for the store to be used as a tool to show Christ’s love to the people of northeast Louisiana. The thrift store that serves also as a compassion center located at 5339 Desiard Street opened Jan. 2. Among the items sold inside the store are household items, clothing and furniture. “Rolling Hills has seen God work through many ways to provide this step of faith,” said David Abernathy, executive director of Rolling Hills Ministries. “The ministry wants to add value to Monroe by serving those in need, and assure them that God loves them and desires to help them through the life situations that they are experiencing.” The $1.8 million, 15,600 sq. ft. store is the fourth Rolling Hills Minisitries has opened. The other three are located in Arcadia, Bossier City and Ruston. Like the other stores, the Monroe location accepts drop off items, and picks up donations such as furniture and other large items. Money made through the thrift store will support Rolling Hills Ministries’ compassion ministries such as the partnership with Louisiana Baptist Children’s Home starting in March. Women in the community – … [Read more...]

By Message Staff ALEXANDRIA - Students were challenged to take the next step in life Feb. 2-3 at the 2018 Collegiate Evangelism Conference. The conference featured messages by Rahul Agarwal, the director of men and married couples at Gwinnett Church, a campus of the non-denominational North Point Community Church in Atlanta, Ga., and worship led by the House Band, a group comprised of former Baptist Collegiate Ministry members from around the state. Students also participated in seminars and a late-night time of fellowship. Agarwal’s messages and the various seminars were centered around the theme of CEC – Next. The Baptist Message will publish an expanded story on CEC later. … [Read more...]

By Message Staff ALEXANDRIA/PINEVILLE - More than 5,600 turned out for the third annual Louisiana Life March Central Saturday, Feb. 3. Men and women, young and old, from various denominations and races joined together to make the journey from the Louisiana College campus in Pineville to the amphitheater in downtown Alexandria. Speakers included several Louisiana Baptists, such as Brian Gunter, pastor of First Baptist Church, Pollock, and U.S. Rep. Ralph Abraham, a member of Alto Baptist Church. Also speaking to the crowd was Baptist Message Editor Will Hall, his wife, Catherine, and their son, Jacob. The Louisiana Life Marches are a chance for different denominations, ages and ethnic and racial backgrounds to march together and pray to declare their opposition to the Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion in 1973. The theme for this year’s marches was “Every Life Deserves A Lifetime.” The Baptist Message will publish an expanded story later on this Life March and the North and South marches held in late January. https://youtu.be/sAnxOQlhyIg … [Read more...]

By Message Staff PINEVILLE – During an evening session of the 2018 Evangelism Conference, Brent Crowe urged hundreds of adults and youth to make sure redemption through Christ was part of their life story. “When Jesus calls us to tell a story in our life that has redemption as the theme and the redeemer Jesus as the central character, He not only bids us to tell the story but He provides us all the resources that are necessary so that theme will be true in our lives,” said Crowe, vice president of Student Leadership University in Orlando, Fla. “If redemption is not the theme of the story we are telling in our life, then our story is not worth telling.” Crowe spoke Jan. 22 to a packed crowd in the worship center at First Baptist Church, Pineville, while hundreds of youth watched from their home churches via a livestream broadcast during student night at ECON. At the invitation, three students came forward to declare Christ the Lord of lives, four repented to restore fellowship with Christ, two responded to the Holy Spirit’s call to vocational ministry and one made an undisclosed spiritual commitment. Student night also featured the testimony of Kayla Sasser, a member of the youth group at Philadelphia Baptist Church, … [Read more...]

  By Brian Blackwell, Message Staff Writer ALEXANDRIA – Those who worked with Wayne Jenkins during his 27-year tenure with the Louisiana Baptist Convention all agree he will be missed, but they are excited to see what the Lord has planned in the days ahead following his Jan. 31 retirement as evangelism and church growth director. “I am so thankful for Wayne Jenkins' friendship and ministry across the years,” Louisiana Baptist Convention Executive Director David Hankins told the Baptist Message. “He has been the premier director of evangelism for a long time. His own commitment personally to soul-winning and his ability to teach and inspire churches to be evangelistic has advanced the Lord’s work remarkably. I pray that Wayne and Martha will be blessed greatly as they enter a new era of service.” Keith Manuel, who has assumed Jenkins’ role Feb. 1, echoed the thought. “Wayne’s ministry has taken the message of Jesus from the bayous to the piney woods of Louisiana, as well as to the remotest parts of the Amazon and the largest cities of Brazil,” Manuel said. “His heart beats for men and women to hear the gospel, no matter the personal sacrifice he has to make to see the task to completion. Thousands of men and … [Read more...]

By Message Staff PINEVILLE – Wayne Jenkins may have retired as evangelism and church growth director for Louisiana Baptists, but his involvement with the annual mission trip to Brazil will continue. During his remarks Jan. 23 at the 2018 state Evangelism Conference, Keith Manuel, who assumed Jenkins’ role Feb. 1, announced that Jenkins still will lead teams from Louisiana and other states as he has in the past 33 trips there. His son-in-law, David Denton, pastor of Highland Baptist Church, New Iberia, will assist Jenkins as associate director for the trip, on a volunteer basis. Since Jenkins took his first mission group to Brazil, he and his team members have seen more than 100,000 people come to Christ and 65 church buildings constructed. Manuel is excited for the future impact Jenkins will make on the people of Brazil. “They are cooperating with Southern Baptist missionaries on the field in Brazil and the local churches to plant those churches,” Manuel said. “They’re not just throwing something together and saying good luck. They have a solid foundation basis for the work that is going on.” … [Read more...]

By Brian Blackwell, Message Staff Writer PINEVILLE – Wayne Jenkins, who retired Jan. 31 after 27 years as director of evangelism and church growth for Louisiana Baptists, was presented with a fitting honor during the final moments of the 2018 state Evangelism Conference at First Baptist Church, Pineville, Jan. 23 – the announcement that his alma mater, Louisiana College, has formed the “Dr. Wayne and Martha Jenkins Center for Evangelism and Missions.” Fellow members of the evangelism and church growth team joined Jenkins and his wife, Martha, on stage, and a multitude of family members gathered in front of the podium to surprise him with news his alma mater, Louisiana College, had formed the Wayne and Martha Jenkins Center for Evangelism and Missions that will reside on campus. “It was a shock they did this, especially how they could keep it a secret since this idea was first born in November,” Jenkins said. “This center has a great deal of potential to equip students and pastors and staff in the areas of evangelism and missions. I’m looking forward to getting things rolling. “It’s more than just an honor to have the center named after my wife and me – it’s another phase of ministry,” he said. “What I wanted to do was … [Read more...]

By Brian Blackwell, Message Staff Writer ALEXANDRIA (LBM) - Wayne Jenkins’ call to fulfill the Great Commission has taken him from the bayous of south Louisiana to the streets of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, during his 27 years as director of evangelism for Louisiana Baptists. Jenkins retired Jan. 31, but his commitment to share the Gospel alongside Louisiana Baptists will continue with annual trips to Brazil. He hopes to continue spending time with his children and grandchildren, but he is determined to assist with the Harvest and other evangelism efforts that equip Louisiana Baptists with the tools needed to share their faith. “I never thought I would work for the Convention,” Jenkins said. “I always had high regards for the men and women who worked for the Convention and would never have felt qualified. When (Louisiana Baptist Convention Executive Director) Mark Short approached me about considering the position of evangelism director, it was the one position I would consider. “Never would I have dreamed I would have been privileged to work here for 27 years and under three executive directors,” he added. “To be able to work with pastors, directors of missions, staff and laymen for all these years has been such a rich … [Read more...]